We don't have a TV in our house. We stay so busy that in the rare moments of free time, we prefer to play a game, sit around our chimney and chat, take a walk, or tackle our "must read" book pile. I had been wondering what all the zombie fuss was about. While bartending a private holiday party recently, I kept hearing comments like, "So you have this kind of zombie...and that kind of zombie..." I saw the Christmas decorations, so I knew I didn't have my holidays confused. This wasn't a Halloween party, so I wondered what is causing all the obsession with the undead.

I should have known the zombie apocalypse had truly come when I came home to find my husband watching old episodes of The Walking Dead he had found on the Internet followed by a boast that someone gave him the film World War Z. So much for not having a TV when you have a computer screen.

Many credit George A. Romero's 1968 film Night of the Living Dead with the beginnings of our zombie obsession. Truth is that the concept has existed in many cultures for ages, especially playing a major role in Haitian folklore. Millions of people tuned in to the TV series The Walking Dead on Halloween in 2010 and the millions continue to watch the episodes of the undead.

You can even find food and drink ideas for hosting zombie parties if you want to make a whole event out of gathering with your friends who share your horror addiction. Heck, the world is so zombie-obsessed, even the Center for Disease Control used the undead's popularity to encourage emergency preparedness.

I was experiencing difficulty comprehending the zombie renaissance--until I came across an article in the December 3, 2010 issue of The New York Times. Chuck Klosterman wrote a piece titled My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead. He has been the only one to answer my question, "Why all the obsession?" He surmises, "...zombie killing is philosophically similar to reading and deleting 400 work e-mails on a Monday morning or filling out paperwork that only generates more paperwork, or following Twitter gossip out of obligation, or performing tedious tasks in which the only true risk is being consumed by the avalanche."

Truth is, anytime I'm around a TV, I get what my family calls "TV face"--a zombie-like trance I go into as I fixate on the screen and ignore all around me. That being said, I manage to turn my face from the brains and gore when my husband is watching zombie horror. I'm not into horror. I finally told him the other day, "The only zombie I want you to talk to me about is the cocktail."

The zombie drink--also known as a "skull puncher"--is said to have been created by Donn Beach of the famous Don the Beachcomber tiki bar and restaurant fame where customers were limited to two due to its potency. The drink was so named after a customer told Mr. Beach that he felt like a zombie after drinking it. The concoction gained even more popularity after making a nice showing at the 1939 World's Fair. The high alcohol content tends to be tucked away behind a lot of fruit juice flavor. Since Donn Beach liked to keep his recipe tricks quite secretive, you will find many variations on the zombie cocktail.

Feeling a little pinched after all the gifting and tipping over the holidays, but don't want to lay low for New Year's Eve? Don't sweat it; there's no need to send your checking account into overdraft for French Champagne and the best caviar. Take it from a pro--many a time I've cut corners in price, dressed up my food with the fancy trappings, and the party's still been a rousing success. Here are a few tips for a toast to 2014 that won't break the bank:

Bubbly: Does it really need to be Champagne? No! Opt for a beautiful dry Cava from Spain or a delicious Prosecco from Italy. Even New Mexico produces a really good sparkler--Gruet. Stay tuned to the Epicurious blog on December 30 for a list of some of the best sparkling wines under $25.

Caviar: Forget about the pricey classic, sturgeon caviar, whether imported or domestic. Even the cheapest, hackleback, will cost you about $45 an ounce. Instead, consider trout roe caviar, which is slightly smaller and paler than salmon roe caviar and pops delightfully on your tongue. It runs about $40 for twice the weight. Salmon roe caviar is probably the most accessible; it is readily available in fish markets and supermarkets, but sniff around for the freshest selection. It will run you around $24 for 4 ounces.

Another fun choice is tobiko, the teeny weeny roe of flying fish served astride maki rolls in sushi bars. It comes in a variety of colors: green from wasabi, red from beet juice, yellow from yuzu (a Japanese citrus fruit), and black from squid ink. It's inexpensive enough--about $16 for 4 ounces--that you can afford to have a rainbow display. For your caviar purposes, allow about 1/2 ounce per person for hors d'oeuvre portions, or 1 ounce per person if that's all you're serving.

It turns out all "superfoods" might not be so super after all. Here are six foods touted for their miraculous benefits you might want to think twice about--some are useless, some are questionable, and some might be downright dangerous.

1. Raw Milk: Proponents of raw milk say it can help with digestion, prevent asthma and allergies, and even fight cancer (see RealMilk.com for one group's take on the benefits of unpasturized dairy). But, as has now been widely reported, on December 16 the American Academy of Pedriatrics issued a statement urging pregnant women and children not to drink raw milk products and calling for a ban on raw milk products because consuming them can lead to severe illnesses.

3. Wheatgrass: If you've ever done a shot of wheatgrass, you know most people aren't drinking it for its flavor benefits. And according to an article on not-so-super foods in the Australian magazine Women's Health and Fitness, while wheatgrass has wide range of nutrients, " it doesn’t contain particularly high levels of any particular nutrient so does not stand up to the superfood test and is not considered superior to any other green vegetable."

4. Sea Salt: It's true that sea salt contains trace minerals such as magnesium, potassium, and calcium. It's also true that it can be tastier and make for a more attractive presentation than regular old table salt. But the American Heart Association says many of us are missing an important fact: sea salt contains as much sodium as table salt. In other words, it's only super if used sparingly.

5. Coconut Oil: Celebs like Dr. Oz tout the health benefits of coconut oil for thyroid function, cholesterol levels, brain health, weight loss, and more. But other experts say you shouldn't start downing coconut oil by the gallon or replacing all your olive oil with it. "Most of the research so far has consisted of short-term studies to examine its effect on cholesterol levels," Dr. Walter C. Willett wrote several years ago in an article in The Harvard Health Letter. His advice: Use it sparingly until we know more about its benefits. If you do want to cook with coconut oil, be sure it's unhydrogenated and keep in mind that like all oils, it has a lot of calories--especially important to note if you're using it as a weight-loss aid.

6. Antioxidant-Fortified Foods: While there are products aplenty fortified with all sorts of super-sounding ingredients, as I pointed out earlier this year in Can You Overdose on Antioxidants? the safest, healthiest, and tastiest approach to healthy eating is to consume a wide range of real, unprocessed foods, especially plants--those we know are super, those that might be super, and those that we might find out are super down the line.

Quinoa has been the hot health food for the last few years. It's so popular that even your grandmother knows how to properly pronounce its name and she's likely eating it several times a week. But there's a new seed (yes, quinoa is a seed not a grain) in town and it just may steal some of quinoa's spotlight.

Kaniwa (pronounced ka-nyi-wa) is about half the size of quinoa but otherwise quite similar. It's high in protein, fiber, iron, and calcium; has a nutty, slightly sweet flavor; and comes from South America (primarily from the Andes Mountain region of Southern Peru and Bolivia). It's also gluten-free like quinoa and just as versatile; use it in salads, soups, and stir-fries, or eat it for breakfast.

One way that kaniwa is different from quinoa is that it doesn't contain the saponins that give quinoa that soapy, bitter flavor (the saponins get washed away when you rinse quinoa, which is why you really shouldn't skip that step). This makes kaniwa slightly less fussy and perhaps just a touch faster to prepare than quinoa. Otherwise the cooking process is pretty much the same, though it's common to toast kaniwa in a dry pan to bring out its flavor before cooking.

Along with cleaning out your cabinets and rethinking your diet, the changing of the calendar year is a good time to make sure your cooking tools are in tip-top shape. And for most of us, that means sharpening your knives.

That's a relatively simple task if you do it yourself or have a trusted knife sharpener in your community. But if you don't, fear not. You can now send your knives away to a professional sharpener. USA Sharp is a door-to-door knife sharpening service. Their postage-paid boxes, $35 on Amazon, hold up to four knives and are insured for the value of your knives.

You just put your dull knives in the box (knife guards included), and they'll be returned to you within 3 to 5 business days. Our Test Kitchen team recently tried the send-away service. We pooled our knives and were pleased with the speed of the return (2 days) and the sharpening results.

If you haven't checked out what's happening on the Epicurious blog network the Community Table lately, you're missing a lot (and if you're a food blogger yourself, we'd love for you to join us!). The holiday recipes are droolworthy, and one trend we've noticed food bloggers picking up on in a big way is gluten-free holiday entertaining. A few recipes and ideas from the Community Table to try if you're a gluten-free host yourself:

After the last Christmas wine glass and Champagne flute was put away, after the the last load of dish towels was spinning in the washing machine, I sat down to organize my 2013 iPhoto library (OK, there was a little bit of online shopping in between).

Starting with a trip to the West Coast last January and ending with a busy holiday eating season back home in New York, it was a year full of delicious meals. Looking back on the year's most memorable bites, plenty were made at home: my husband's crisp-edged buttermilk pancakes, my mother's khoresh bademjan (eggplant stew), our juicy Thanksgiving turkey.

But the dishes that captured my imagination--and that I felt compelled to capture on film--were served at restaurants both at home and away. From Manhattan to the English countryside, Napa Valley to a back alley in Saigon, these are the bites that I'm still dreaming about on this cold December morning.

I'd love to hear from you about the dishes you've loved most this past year. Please tweet us @epicurious with your favorites of 2013.

After a big dinner, we enjoy mixing up a classic digestive cocktail known as the Stinger. Inevitably, we all end up in the library with drinks in hand. We keep a framed image of a distinguished looking gentleman among our cocktail books. This encourages guests to ask about his identity and opens up conversation to educate people on the first African American cocktail book author in known American history--Tom Bullock.

Not much is known about Mr. Bullock. He appears to have been born in Kentucky to a freed married couple in 1873.

He made bartending fame at the Pendennis Club in Louisville as well as the St. Louis Country Club.

He served quite a few powerful people, including George Herbert Walker, the grandfather of our 41st President George Herbert Walker Bush, who was such a fan he wrote the forward in Mr. Bullock's book.

The earliest Stinger recipe we have in our cocktail book collection goes back to Tom Bullock's The Ideal Bartender published in 1917. The Stinger is an after-dinner drink typically made with brandy, though various other liquors can be substituted. Mr. Bullock instructs to make a stinger in the following manner:

Stinger--Country Club Style

Use a large Mixing glass; fill with Lump Ice.

1 jigger Old Brandy.1 pony white Creme de Menthe.

Shake well; strain into Cocktail glass and serve.

[jigger=1.5 ounces]

[pony=1 ounce]

I prefer a two to one ratio of even more brandy to menthe. No matter the proportions, the stinger has been seen sipped in the swankiest New York nightspots and remains a classic the world over.

It's happened to all of us. We get a text from a friend or family member announcing they happen to be in the neighborhood and want to stop by. This seems to happen even more so during the holidays, when you're tired of cooking, cleaning, and entertaining. So what to do? Plaster on a smile, crank up the iTunes, chill a bottle of cheap bubbly, and take a few minutes to whip up a few of these fast appetizers from ingredients you likely have in the fridge:

1) Curried Egg Salad Toasts: Cook six eggs for about 12 minutes, until hard boiled. Add 1/3 cup mayo, 1 tablespoon mustard, and 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder, as well as any other seasonings like cayenne or cumin. Make sandwiches with toast, cut crusts off, and cut into quarters.

2) Kitchen Sink Hummus: Drain and rinse a large can of garbanzo or navy beans, and place into a food processor or blender. Add a splash of lemon juice, olive oil, tahini if you have it, and any garlic, shallots, finely cut herbs like parsley, basil, or dill, or chili peppers. Serve with cut up veggies or chips.

4) Puff Pastry Spinach Pies: Preheat the oven to 350. Thaw frozen spinach in a microwave and squeeze out any water, add an egg, any seasoning you want, from turmeric to curry powder, and add some shredded cheese. Cut a sheet of frozen puff pastry into thirds and place into muffin cups. Fill with spinach mixture, and bake for 20 minutes, until golden.

5) Garlic Bread Crostini: Preheat the oven to 450. Slice any loaf of bread in half lengthwise, melt 1/2 a stick of butter with a few tablespoons olive oil, some crushed garlic, and chopped parsley. Spread evenly onto the cut sides of the loaf, sprinkle with melted cheese, wrap in foil, and bake for 10 minutes. Cut into bite-sized slices. Top with anything from chopped tomatoes to olives to goat cheese.